When will people empathize with and help others? The goal of this research was to determine whether a prosocial orientation results from experiencing trauma. Recent research suggests there may be positive consequences to suffering. Under certain conditions, such as when people experience post-traumatic growth, past suffering can lead to personal benefits. Building on this body of research, one aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of subjective traumatic suffering and psychological distress on post-traumatic growth and empathy. The second aim of this research was to examine whether objective trauma severity predicts post-traumatic growth. Finally, the third aim of this research was to examine the relationship between post-traumatic growth and empathy and the simultaneous impact of these variables on a prosocial orientation. Study 1 assessed these aforementioned relationships and Study 2 included a manipulation of post-traumatic growth and a behavioural outcome measure of prosocial behaviour. Structural equation models for Study 1 and 2 indicated that subjective traumatic suffering and objective trauma severity positively predicted post-traumatic growth, and post-traumatic growth positively predicted empathy. In turn, empathy positively predicted several prosocial outcomes. Thus, empathy mediated the link between post-traumatic growth and a prosocial orientation. In contrast to subjective traumatic suffering, psychological distress was unrelated to post-traumatic growth and negatively predicted empathy. Study 2 further indicated that focusing on one’s growth in regards to trauma resulted in greater post-traumatic growth scores, but the manipulation had no direct impact on empathy or a prosocial orientation. The current findings have important social and clinical implications.

Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the North America, and can result in long-term physical and psychological consequences, which over time change brain injury from a medical problem to an issue of quality of life. Various self-care activities can significantly improve the quality of life in people living with a chronic health condition. However, research on self-care in these populations has focused on the physical aspect of self-care, often excluding other domains of functioning. There is minimal self-care research involving people who had a traumatic brain injury; however, it is important to understand how they experience and make sense of their injury and its consequences in order to develop more effective approaches to their rehabilitation and support systems. In this study, I interviewed adults with traumatic brain injury who had their injury at least two years prior to the study. Narrative analysis of their stories revealed that the participants faced the following difficulties: constructing an explanation for the injury, dealing with losses and limitations, feeling misunderstood and insignificant, and dealing with memory deficits and physical problems. The ways in which participants tried to overcome these difficulties was understood as self-care. It manifested in a variety of ways, including deliberate health-related behaviours, changes in one’s way of thinking, emotional regulation strategies, and linguistic and paralinguistic means used in the narratives. I discuss ways to understand the findings using different theoretical models, such as illness narratives, social disenfranchisement, and social disability models. The results of the study strongly suggest that our understanding of self-care should encompass both physical and psychological health.

Background: Some women develop symptoms of posttraumatic stress following childbirth. There is preliminary evidence that cognitive variables may be associated with the development or maintenance of these symptoms. Research indicates that symptoms of posttraumatic stress following childbirth may have negative consequences for mother-infant relationship outcomes. However, these may be attributable to comorbid symptoms of depression. Further evidence is required regarding the nature of the relationships between these variables. Methods: An internet based cross-sectional questionnaire design was employed to test hypothesised relationships between maternal attachment experiences, metacognition, symptoms of PTSD and depression and perceptions of the mother-infant bond, in an analogue sample of new mothers. Structural equation modelling was employed for the principal analysis. Results: The final structural model demonstrated a good fit to sample data. Metacognition fully mediated the relationship between attachment experiences and postnatal psychological outcomes. The association between posttraumatic stress and maternal perceptions of the mother-infant bond was fully mediated by depression. Conclusions: Metacognition may have a key role in the development and maintenance of postnatal psychological distress. If clinically significant postnatal depression is identified, screening for posttraumatic stress is strongly indicated.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of adolescents with traumatic brain injury on a written persuasive discourse task. Nine adolescents with TBI (mean age = 14 years 4 months) and nine age, gender and education matched peers completed a written essay on the topic of whether trained animals in circuses should be allowed to perform for the public. Language measures included productivity (number of words, number of T-units and mean length of T-unit) and complexity (number of clauses, clause density and clause breakdown). Pragmatic measures were drawn from the developmental persuasive discourse literature and included essential elements of argument (claim, number of reasons, number of elaborations, conclusion, irrelevancies, repetition of information and attitude). In comparison to their age-matched peers, the TBI group produced significantly fewer reasons to support their claims, significantly more repetitions of information and failed to take alternative perspectives on the topic. There were no significant differences on any measures of language productivity or complexity, however the TBI group performed consistently below their peers on these measures. The results are discussed alongside current literature in the field of discourse production and persuasion. Implications for clinical practice and future directions for research in this area are also offered.

This study investigated the effects of working memory constraints on the comprehension of expository texts by adolescents with severe Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The performance of adolescents with TBI will be compared against a group of typically developing (TD) gender and age-matched peers. The research questions are: (1) How does the performance of adolescents with TBI compare to typically developing gender and age-matched peers on tasks examining comprehension of expository texts?; and (2) Does comprehension of expository text decrease when working memory constraints are increased for adolescents with TBI? Fifteen participants will participate in the study. One group of five adolescents with severe TBI and a second group of ten gender and age-matched typically developing adolescents without TBI completed a battery of assessments including: Test of Nonverbal Intelligence 3rd Edition (TONI-3), Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals 4th Edition (CELF-4), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test 3rd Edition (PPVT-3) and the Working Memory Span Task (Tompkins et al 1994). All participants also completed an experimental task which involved listening to an expository passage and answering comprehension questions. Scores were then submitted to statistical analysis using ANOVA methodology to determine the significance of any within and between group differences. Results showed that there was no significant group by task interaction effect. The study did show that there was a significant difference between the TBI and TD groups on the measure of working memory. Results of the study will enhance our understanding of how adolescents with TBI comprehend expository information. This study will also help to create a foundation for further research into this area which is critical for student’s success in secondary education.

The study examined the effects of multiple interpersonal traumas (incurred simultaneously) on severity of PTSD symptoms; as demonstrated by the literature on the dose-effect relationship for PTSD, greater reports of interpersonal trauma, were hypothesized to lead to more severe PTSD symptomology. The 267 participants, were all Liberian war refugees living in Ghana, West Africa. Regression analysis was utilized to examine the contributions of interpersonal traumas (posttraumatic diagnostic scale), age, gender and marital status to PTSD symptoms (Impact of Event Scale). Interpersonal trauma was the strongest predictor, (β = .21, t(138) = 2.45, p < .05) of PTSD severity, which was supportive of the hypothesis. / Department of Psychological Science

Post-traumatic stress is a highly prevalent mental health condition. Mind-body interventions like yoga are increasingly being utilized in the treatment of PTS, but further research is needed to assess its effectiveness. This present randomized control study was designed to supplement the current field of inquiry with a relatively large group of participants and mixed method analysis of the data. The PTS symptoms and overall well-being of 50 participants enrolled in an eight-week trauma-specific Kundalini yoga (KY) program were examined. The findings demonstrate that KY may impact PTS symptomology, sleep, positive affect, perceived stress, and feelings of resilience. Eight month follow-up data are presented. Participant narratives are discussed corroborating quantitative findings and suggest that participants learnt tools to modulate emotions leading to self-mastery. Study limitations are presented with recommendations for future trauma-related research and practice.

When will people empathize with and help others? The goal of this research was to determine whether a prosocial orientation results from experiencing trauma. Recent research suggests there may be positive consequences to suffering. Under certain conditions, such as when people experience post-traumatic growth, past suffering can lead to personal benefits. Building on this body of research, one aim of this thesis was to investigate the impact of subjective traumatic suffering and psychological distress on post-traumatic growth and empathy. The second aim of this research was to examine whether objective trauma severity predicts post-traumatic growth. Finally, the third aim of this research was to examine the relationship between post-traumatic growth and empathy and the simultaneous impact of these variables on a prosocial orientation. Study 1 assessed these aforementioned relationships and Study 2 included a manipulation of post-traumatic growth and a behavioural outcome measure of prosocial behaviour. Structural equation models for Study 1 and 2 indicated that subjective traumatic suffering and objective trauma severity positively predicted post-traumatic growth, and post-traumatic growth positively predicted empathy. In turn, empathy positively predicted several prosocial outcomes. Thus, empathy mediated the link between post-traumatic growth and a prosocial orientation. In contrast to subjective traumatic suffering, psychological distress was unrelated to post-traumatic growth and negatively predicted empathy. Study 2 further indicated that focusing on one’s growth in regards to trauma resulted in greater post-traumatic growth scores, but the manipulation had no direct impact on empathy or a prosocial orientation. The current findings have important social and clinical implications.

Traumatic brain injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the North America, and can result in long-term physical and psychological consequences, which over time change brain injury from a medical problem to an issue of quality of life. Various self-care activities can significantly improve the quality of life in people living with a chronic health condition. However, research on self-care in these populations has focused on the physical aspect of self-care, often excluding other domains of functioning. There is minimal self-care research involving people who had a traumatic brain injury; however, it is important to understand how they experience and make sense of their injury and its consequences in order to develop more effective approaches to their rehabilitation and support systems. In this study, I interviewed adults with traumatic brain injury who had their injury at least two years prior to the study. Narrative analysis of their stories revealed that the participants faced the following difficulties: constructing an explanation for the injury, dealing with losses and limitations, feeling misunderstood and insignificant, and dealing with memory deficits and physical problems. The ways in which participants tried to overcome these difficulties was understood as self-care. It manifested in a variety of ways, including deliberate health-related behaviours, changes in one’s way of thinking, emotional regulation strategies, and linguistic and paralinguistic means used in the narratives. I discuss ways to understand the findings using different theoretical models, such as illness narratives, social disenfranchisement, and social disability models. The results of the study strongly suggest that our understanding of self-care should encompass both physical and psychological health.

No description available.